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First make sure your flow control is set to open then open your solenoid just so it is hand tight like an oil filter. More often than not they get torqued down way to tight and cause a vacuum on the diaphragm from opening all the way. Lastly if that does not work remove the solenoid and manually bleed the valve and break the vacuum between the solenoid and diaphragm by removing it and letting water to flow out the 32"inch hole in valve. That should take care of your problem of flow. Not a voltage issue. Either it works or it doesn 't with voltage most of the time, unless it is intermittent then it is a wire nut or nicked wire.

RE: Valve Solenoid problem? Low Pressure.

I have three automatic valves controlled by one controller. When the valve for zone three is automatically activated by the controller the water pressure is low. The sprinklers pop up about half way and shoot water about half the distance they say they should.

But, if i use the bleed screw to manually turn on the valve the sprinkler heads pop up right away and work without a hitch.

Is it normal for the valves to have greater pressure when opened manually or is it more likely that i have a voltage drop between the controller and the solenoid causing the valve to not open fully when activated with the the low voltage signal from the controller? Or some other problem i haven't thought of?

RE: Loosen Solenoid

Try loosening the solenoid a little and see if that helps. I had my solenoid screwed all the way into the valve and ran into the same problem. Now that I loosened the solenoid to the point just before it starts leaking water or turning on the sprinklers it works a lot better with the timer.

This is actually not a good idea.

These valves are fast closing acting valves. Water hammer happens in most cases when these valves close. The thumping of the hammer can joggle your solenoid loose, thus having the valve on for hours/days on end

Loosen Solenoid

Try loosening the solenoid a little and see if that helps. I had my solenoid screwed all the way into the valve and ran into the same problem. Now that I loosened the solenoid to the point just before it starts leaking water or turning on the sprinklers it works a lot better with the timer.